She added: ‘To minimise this risk, witness addresses are not disclosed to the defendant and will not be mentioned in court proceedings, unless they are relevant or required for evidential purposes.

‘Only in exceptional circumstances may a court allow a victim or witness not to give their name in open court.

‘In this particular case there was an obligation on the defendant not to seek to identify the name of the victim. There was no specific court order allowing the prosecution to withhold those details and the victim’s surname was mentioned during the course of a hearing.’